The boomerang has been thrown Unfortunately, 2013 appears to be a difficult year for the world economy, and thus for Grundfos too. The first six months of the year have only seen modest growth, which means that we lag significantly behind our budget for both the top and bottom lines. it goes without saying that this is something that concerns me and the rest of Group Management. Great differences exist in the development of our markets. Fortunately, some markets still experience high growth, but unfortunately others show low or negative growth. And some of the markets that we would expect to drive growth have come to a complete halt. The overall picture is confused, as are the underlying explanations. it is always difficult to make predictions about the future, but i believe and hope that the second half of the year will be better, although it is very difficult to imagine that we will be able to meet our budgeted growth targets. This also means that we have to maintain focus on creating sales while at the same time keeping an eye on costs. in our local companies around the world and here at the headquarters in Bjerringbro, we are already working with various kinds of cost adaptation models and within the area of sales, several activities are in place for the purpose of creating growth in the short term. For example, we have started a project which, by means of eight tools, will help to increase sales. The project is called Boomerang, partly because the shape of the boomerang should signal that we want to break the sales curve, and partly because the boomerang will return with new sales every time it is being thrown. some of the most recent activities in the project include the introduction of shop-in-shop concepts in 120 ”van Marcke” outlets in Belgium, the reintroduction of our sQ/sQe products in several Asian countries and the carrying out of workshops and training courses in spain and Portugal, directed at increasing service sales. All of this is intended to contribute positively to short-term growth. it is, however, the day-to-day sales effort that will make a real difference. every day, our sales force at the front line is fighting hard to create added sales. And fortunately, there are lots of business opportunities to exploit. Market shares are constantly moving around among the competitors in the pump market – and those closest to the customer and decision-makers often end up winning the deal. so let’s make sure to give high priority to the time we spend with customers, because one single visit or contact could be decisive for whether it is us or our competitors who end up landing the order. in spite of the difficult situation, this mid-year status fortunately allows us to look back at important events which show that Grundfos continues its high pace in the global development. For example, we have opened a new factory in indjija in serbia, which produces UP pumps and sololiFT products; we have produced the first new saver motors in hungary, and we are gathering our forces in NAMreG in a new North American headquarters in Chicago. Also, we have opened new facilities in the Philippines, set up our own sales office in Colombia, and as part of a major rationalisation project in the supply chain, we have decided to set up a new purchasing company in switzerland. Grundfos remains stronger than ever before. And if we grit our teeth, increase sales and keep a close eye on costs, i am certain that this will also be the case in the second half of 2013. enjoy reading! 16 Towards owning the moment Contrasting realities in Vietnam 22 Carsten Bjerg Group President 2 Gmagazine August 13
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